My Catastrophic‑Level Summon Devours Gates - Chapter 282

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 282
Director Jung Seung-il came rushing over in a frenzy.
He looked as though he’d just emerged from a coal storage.
Soot clung to various parts of his body.
Even the tips of his hair had curled slightly, as if he’d accidentally touched them with a curling iron.
“Are you injured, Hunter Park Min-ho?”
“It seems you’re more injured than I am, Director.”
In that moment, my suspicion became certainty—who had faced the other Drake that Zheng Shiyenho had dragged away.
“So you also fought a Drake, Director.”
“Yes. I had quite the struggle chasing down those creatures that only spew breath attacks from a distance.”
Wow.
Just thinking about it was horrifying.
【The Drake grew wary of such a well-honed aura, it seems.】
【It just charged at us without hesitation.】
【Because our Lord’s full power has not yet reached that level.】
From the Drake’s perspective, we were so pathetic it came down to chew us up.
And Director Jeong must have only observed from a distance, afraid he’d be sliced to pieces if he got too close.
【Iron Head. That’s disrespectful toward your Master.】
That’s not it.
I shook my head left and right in response to Ingrid’s mental projection.
Director Jeong is a hero of South Korea who has been active since the Great Catastrophe.
A master who stands shoulder to shoulder with the 12 Heroes!
He was also one of the few SS-rank Hunters in the entire world.
If someone who hasn’t left the field for decades is at a similar level to me, that would make even less sense, wouldn’t it?
【And we can protect our Master, can’t we?】
【If we all fight with the resolve to die, we might even reach mutual destruction.】
【But?】
【Winning while protecting our Lord is impossible.】
The greatest weakness of a Summoning-type Hunter.
Lacking sufficient means to protect oneself compared to total combat power.
Sir Isra always made such “estimates.”
While my Summoned Beings chattered through their mental projections, the Director, who had examined me carefully, nodded and opened his mouth.
“You drove the Drake away. Thank goodness.”
“Actually, I killed it.”
The Director’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Should I have driven it away instead? Does killing a Drake bring more of them seeking revenge?”
“No. Thinking of the future, killing it was the right call.”
The Director shook his head vigorously.
“I was just surprised to hear that you hunted a Drake, Hunter Park.”
“They let their guard down, so I hunted them easily.”
I’m not sure if “easy” is the right word.
But recalling what Director Jeong had endured, it truly was easy.
If those creatures had merely circled the air and spewed breath?
Absolutely not.
We could never have hunted the Drake.
“Fortunately, we didn’t witness a breath performance tour.”
“Indeed.”
Director Jeong’s lips twisted slightly.
Perhaps he was displeased, remembering his ordeal with the Drake.
“Director. How long has it been since you smiled?”
That expression.
You call that smiling?
“Is it not cause for joy? The future of our country’s Hunter Industry shines so brightly.”
“Could you spare some consideration for me, who belongs to the Response Department?”
“Understood. Once we repel the Monster Wave from the Great Rift, I shall conduct special training.”
“Sounds good.”
“By the way, Director, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Ah, that’s right. Hunter Park. I’ll report that part myself.”
Director Jeong then listened to the entire story from Department Head Jeon Hye-yeon and exhaled briefly.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Is there perhaps something troubling?”
“No. I merely regret that I couldn’t crush his neck with my own hands.”
The way he said it without any change in expression was utterly chilling.
Of course.
When Zheng Shiyenho defected, hadn’t he hurled endless accusations at the Rift Bureau?
From the Rift Bureau’s perspective, they would have wanted to grind him to dust.
“Director, that joke isn’t funny.”
“Ah. Is that so.”
Wait.
That was a joke?
Judging by his expression, he looked ready to resurrect the already-dead Zheng Shiyenho just to kill him again.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Thank you.”
“As you said, Hunter, the situation is far too convenient for China to escape responsibility.”
Director Jeong’s lips twisted slightly.
With such a murderous aura, Sir Isra tensed as well, placing his hand on his sword hilt.
This time, the atmosphere truly felt like someone might get hurt.
What could he be thinking?
“I hear the situation on the Chinese front line is quite unfavorable.”
“Is that so?”
“There are almost no mountain ranges from Manchuria to Beijing, so a full-scale war is forced upon us.”
“I see.”
“They likely intended to lure the Drake to the Korean Peninsula to induce damage to our country, while reducing the burden on their own front lines.”
A reasonable deduction.
“Even if support requests come in, we can refuse them, saying the Drake makes it difficult.”
“Director Jeong. You shouldn’t make that satisfied expression, I’m telling you.”
A face that looked ready to slaughter people… what was that?
I thought I’d seen it often enough, but I still couldn’t get used to Director Jeong’s expression.
“Since you’ve repelled even the Drake, please get some rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard the word ‘rest.’
I’m genuinely fine, you know?
It’s just that, as Sir Isra said, the loss of full power and the consumption of my Familiars were significant.
Still, I didn’t refuse further and went to Sinuiju to catch some sleep.
* * *
The Yalu River defense line was even longer than Jinzhou City on the Chinese side.
To the south lay the sea.
Unlike Jinzhou City, where the Battlefield was confined by steep mountain ranges to the northwest.
It stretched long from east to west, making the area to cover vast.
In exchange.
The ‘river’ itself, hundreds of meters wide, granted tremendous advantage to the defenders.
“Cruuuuuk”
Monsters began their crossing without hesitation.
The season was early spring.
The river level had dropped considerably, so even Orcs could barely poke their heads above the water surface and gasp.
“Freezing Magic—volley fire!”
[Glacial Spike]
[Blizzard]
[Ice Storm]
….
The bitter cold of deep winter froze the entire river solid.
Monsters that recklessly plunged into the river were forcibly transformed into frozen statues.
“Kuoooooo!”
Not all of them were frozen.
Monsters like Ogres with exceptional magic resistance endured the bone-chilling cold and shattered the ice.
“Kekekek.”
“Ling, keeing.”
As the riverbed froze solid, smaller monsters like Kobolds and Goblins charged forward.
Most were low-rank monsters.
But dangerous types like Bomb Rabbits, which inflicted heavy damage in close combat, also advanced.
“Fire Magic—launch!!”
The second wave of spells followed in succession.
[Prominence]
[Burst Flare]
[Flame Shower]
[Fire Wall]
….
Multiple streams of flame struck the frozen river with merciless force.
The monsters perched atop it were reduced to roasted prey.
Sizzzzle.
As the ice shattered and melted, the river transformed from an ice bath into a hot spring.
“Kyaaahhhhh!”
The monsters thrashed about like children alternating between cold and hot water.
“Nice service, isn’t it?”
“Try a massage too.”
[Lightning Field]
[Thunderbolt]
[Violet Spark]
….
Crackle-crackle!
Coordinated elemental attacks that exploited the terrain’s characteristics.
Multiple Refinement Circles had been installed throughout the Yalu River to support the Mages, allowing the Hunters’ efforts to proceed smoothly.
“I still can’t believe how they managed to prepare all this.”
A Hunter from the Rift Bureau muttered while watching monsters die en masse in the river.
The Yalu River was vast.
The lower reaches had deep waters that made crossing difficult, true enough.
But as one moved upstream, the water grew shallower—crossable.
Defending that entire expanse was impossible with Hunter abilities alone.
Refinement Circles had to be installed everywhere.
Hunters participating in the Yalu River defense had to be repositioned to fortified positions.
Beyond that, the material and human resources required were staggering.
“Completing the preparations in just one month is nothing short of a miracle.”
“More miraculous is that they held back those monsters for over a month.”
“That’s all thanks to the Domestic Big Five.”
“The Domestic Big Five? They say Hunter Park Min-ho did it all.”
“Is Hunter Park Min-ho really that remarkable?”
“Didn’t you hear the radio transmission from Department Head Jeon?”
The senior Hunter gestured broadly with both arms.
“He flew through the sky while helping maintain the lines of the other Domestic Big Five members.”
Min-ho’s battle records had become so renowned that there was hardly anyone in the entire Rift Bureau—or indeed, all of South Korea—who didn’t know of them.
“They say he held the line until the very end before withdrawing.”
“Hunter Park Min-ho only became A-rank less than a year ago, didn’t he?”
“About six months, I’d say.”
“I’m not even sure he’s truly A-rank.”
The status of an A-rank Hunter isn’t lacking.
Warriors who wield Aura.
Mages who can deploy powerful Magic through Memorize without preparation.
Once you reach A-rank, you’re treated as a walking semi-tactical weapon.
And yet.
Min-ho’s battle records far exceeded that level.
“Department Head Jeon Hye-yeon participated in the operation as well, didn’t she?”
“She said she barely contributed anything.”
“Come on. Wasn’t she just passing the ball to that Ranger?”
“Fat chance. Do you know what kind of person Department Head Jeon is?”
“Is her work style strict? She didn’t seem like it.”
“Try working with her once. She’s all business. Completely.”
Despite the light tone.
Officially, she resembled Jung Seung-il so closely in her work that she had a notorious reputation for handling matters with absolute precision.
“When people say the Wave can’t be stopped, those who didn’t sell their defense stocks must’ve bled out pretty badly.”
The junior Hunter chuckled.
A tendon bulged prominently above the senior Hunter’s brow.
“You bastard.”
“Senior, did you sell?”
“Yeah. Look, once I’m deployed to the Yalu River front, I won’t even be able to touch my stocks, so I liquidated everything.”
“Traitor.”
“Hey!”
Like the casual banter exchanged among Rift Bureau Hunters.
The Korean stock market was undulating dramatically like waves.
[A Monster Wave unseen in decades!]
[Tens of millions of Monsters begin their southern and westward advance!]
[Is the Korean Peninsula the Monsters’ first target?]
[South Korean government collaborates with the Domestic Big Five to slow the Monster Wave’s advance!]
“Even among the Domestic Big Five, Mir wasn’t excluded.”
“Hunter Park Min-ho instead of Yong Cheon-woo? That’s a bit….”
“Even with Jeon Hye-yeon, she only recently became S-rank.”
“Then we should probably exclude her.”
Foreign investors viewed this Monster Wave’s prospects negatively.
Monsters only sustain damage from attacks infused with Magic Power.
Hunters must establish a front line and eliminate tens of millions of Monsters.
Even if the average level of Korean Hunters is relatively high, they judged it impossible to stop them without casualties.
“Damn it.”
“We’ll liquidate everything as the market opens.”
As foreign investors began withdrawing their capital en masse, the related stocks plummeted violently.
Countless retail investors joined the selling frenzy before defense-sector stocks could fall any further.
But then.
“You buy stocks when they’re on sale, remember?”
Baek Seong-hyeon unleashed even his reserve funds, purchasing defense-sector stocks indiscriminately.
Stocks that had crashed to half their value—no, a quarter of their value—snapped up at bargain prices.
“Buy when fear grips the market!”
“Let’s go!”
Even retail investors with the hearts of beasts scooped up the stocks foreign investors had discarded.
A month passed.
“Defense stocks are divine!!”
“Well, Park Min-ho is the divine one, really.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Park Min-ho is a god!”
“As of today, I withdraw my support. From now on, Park Min-ho and I are one body—no distinction between us.”
Countless retail investors proclaimed their faith.
The anxiety spawned by the Monster Wave from the Great Rift dissipated, swept away by the stock market frenzy.
President Cheon Yu-jin, upon receiving the report, let out a breath of admiration.
“The risk of the Great Rift diminished by a single man’s exploits. Truly remarkable.”
“We will spare no support for the Yalu River Front Line.”
“Indeed. We shall abandon the plan to surrender Sinuiju entirely.”
Holding back the Monster Wave at the Yalu River Front Line.
Bolstered by Min-ho’s achievements, the South Korean government’s policy shifted toward far greater commitment.
The winds of change stirred by one man began to shake the entire Korean Peninsula.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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